Taking inventory of a large number of stored objects in a factory, warehouse or retail outlet is a formidable, time-consuming and therefore expensive task. Conventional past methods of drawer, bin or cabinet storage have required laborious hand-counting or prolonged weighing operations for each group of stored objects. Even with recent prior art improvements in computer-controlled one-at-a-time weighings of stored units (U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,734), inventory-taking remains unsatisfactorily costly in time and equipment. In the case of very small objects, such as electronic and industrial components or jewelry, accurate weighing to provide a meaningful count is essential for an inventory to be of value.
It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide a system for efficient, rapid and accurate inventory control by the simultaneous but independent weighings of diverse groups of stored objects, the objects in each group being identical to each other. It is also an object of this invention to provide an inventory system of uncomplicated structure with minimum cost of installation, operation and maintenance.